Fixer temp. when dev with Diafine?

[hans voralberg]

Hi guys, I'm looking into Diafine as a solution for developing here in Vietnam because it's temp uncritical, the trouble of cooling down water for other dev is just not worth it. My question is, can I use fixer @ ~26-27 C ? Would there be any ill-effect ? The temperature here is hovering around 30C right now so cooling water down is honestly tough.

 

[Merkin]

I have always used the rule of thumb that as long as all of your chemicals and water are within a few degrees of each other, you will be fine. Just check the clearing time and fix for twice the clearing time.

 

[mfogiel]

I do not think you risk anything, I have used temperatures around 25C for the pyro development, and there were no problems whatsoever.

 

[Svitantti]

I dont think 26-27 will yet have any effect. Fast cooling of the emulsion could be critical, but if your rinse water is aroung 20 or warmer then that difference shouldn't be too big.

 

[like2fiddle]

I agree with what the others have said about keeping the temps. fairly close, but I think I read somewhere, perhaps the Diafine box, I'm not sure, that you should try to keep the temperature below 85 F, I think that's around 29 C. I'm not home right now or I'd try to verify that - so I'm going from memory, which isn't always as accurate as I think it is😱

 

[JeffGreene]

It states on the box "Diafine may be used within a temperature range of 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit with a minimum time of of 3 minutes in each solution. Increased developing times will have no practical effect on results."

 

[Al Kaplan]

Here in Miami, FL my tap water temerature is often 84f in the summer. I gave up on trying to cool things down to 75f a long time ago. I just go with the tap water temperature. I'm sure that my negatives aren't exactly the same as I'd have gotten at 68 (20c) or 70 or even 75 but they seem to print OK. With some standard (single bath like D-76 or HC-110) you might end up with development times that are too short for ease in using it, but Diafine isn't temerature dependant. Just make sure that it spends enough time in A to soak up the developer ~three minutes is reasonable ~ and the film stays in B to allow the activator to do its thing ~ again three minutes should be fine. Just make sure that you use a hardening fixer because the heat might soften the emulsion somewhat.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Gross variations in temperature between baths (including wash) historically led to reticulation, but with modern films, this is unlikely to be a problem. At +/-2C C (+/-4 F) for each bath, problems are vanishingly unlikely. Even at +/-5C (+/-9F) problems with modern emulsions should not arise.

This is based on experiment as well as theory.

Tashi delek,

Roger

 

[Merkin]

Gross variations in temperature between baths (including wash) historically led to reticulation, but with modern films, this is unlikely to be a problem. At +/-2C C (+/-4 F) for each bath, problems are vanishingly unlikely. Even at +/-5C (+/-9F) problems with modern emulsions should not arise.

Thos is based on experiment as well as theory.

Tashi delek,

Roger

I had a roll of HP5 reticulate on me a couple of years ago. The hot water went out, and I didn't notice until too late. I don't know for sure, but I think it was around a ten degree fahrenheit difference.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I had a roll of HP5 reticulate on me a couple of years ago. The hot water went out, and I didn't notice until too late. I don't know for sure, but I think it was around a ten degree fahrenheit difference.

I'd guess it was slightly bigger, but equally, I'd not dream of calling you a liar: reticulation is entirely possible with such a difference, though the previous generation (NOT the present generation) of Tri-X was much more sensitive than HP5+.

An important point is how fast the temperature changed. A change of 5C/9F is definitely as big as I'd care to risk.

Tashi delek,

Roger

 

[hans voralberg]

Thanks guy, I think I'm safe, just need to get some Diafine now! What is an example of a hardening fixer BTW? I've only used Rapidfix in the past.

 

[JeffGreene]

Ilford Rapid Fixer is a hardening fixer.

 

[Al Kaplan]

About the only real use for a non-hardening fixer is fixing prints that you plan on toning. The last non hardening dry powder fixer that I can recall was Kodak 1 3/4 gallon Photo-Fix which had originally been called 7 quart Photo-Fix. I don't think they make it any more. The "odd" size was common back in sheet film days when 3 1/2 gallon tanks were used for developing sheet film up to 8x10.

 

[JeffGreene]

Non-hardening fixers also are ideal for some of the staining developers like the Pyro and Thornton formulas.

 

[Svitantti]

I tried Neopan 400 for a couple rolls and noticed I had reticulation or similar problems very easily, so I stopped using it. It might be because I like to dry the films fast with the help of hair dryer.

So as a warning, be extra careful with Neopan. I think it is a lot more sensitive than Trix or HP5+.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Ilford Rapid Fixer is a hardening fixer.

Ilford Rapid Fix is non hardening.

From the data sheet off its website:
"ILFORD RAPID FIXER is a non-hardening rapid fixer"